Participate in WE Decide 2016 polls. Who knows better than you how policy affects your businesses and your families? As an important voting bloc, women need to be the voice of reason. Now you can make a difference. You can have your voice heard through We Decide 2016. Learn more about WE Decide 2016 and take the latest quick poll: http://wedecide2016.org/get-involved/todays-quick-poll/

Go to a ChallengeHER event. These events are designed to assist you in competing for government contracts by reducing the competition utilizing the WOSB Set Aside Program. The ChallengeHER events have sessions for those who are just beginning the process of becoming a federal contractor, and for those who have federal experience but looking for higher level content. Read more about the program and register for an event near you: http://www.wipp.org/?ChallengeHER

Become a WIPP Member. WIPP has a wide range of membership levels and benefits. Check them out here and join today: http://bit.ly/1EpjHDm

Join a WIPP Issue Committee. Already a WIPP member but want to do more? Join one of our Issue Committees and be the first to hear about policy issues affecting your business: http://bit.ly/1L8YNxm

With the all the hysteria flying left and right in this election cycle, it’s no wonder folks are second-guessing why the U.S. even pursues free trade agreements. But the overheated rhetoric of presidential campaigns is obfuscating what really is at stake- American competitiveness.

The United States is already among the most open markets in the world – and has been since the end of World War II. That openness has honed the edge of American competitiveness and helped stem the price inflation that fuels inequality. Trade agreements are a tool to ensure that U.S. products and services have the same fair and non-discriminatory access to international markets.

As the leader of the free world, the U.S. has worked to shape the rules of the road in the international economy. Free trade agreements are one of the most effective mechanisms for doing so. The alternative to U.S. free trade agreements is a global economy shaped by others who don’t have America’s interests at heart. The world is not sitting still: The World Trade Organization counts 419 trade agreements in force around the world, while the United States is party to only 20.

It’s true that 21st century trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are growing even more complex, especially as they tackle emerging and critical issues like intellectual property rights in digital trade or biopharmaceuticals.

But knowledge-intensive trade isn’t limited to big corporations or scientists curing cancer. It is also providing a significant platform for entrepreneurial women to connect with previously untapped markets.Take Lolita Healy, who after obtaining her first copyright at the age of 12 built a multi-million dollar empire painting designs on glassware, eventually selling 14 million products around the world. Lolita is just one example of the 40 million Americans who are employed by the creative and knowledge-intensive industries. The U.S. Department of Commerce has found that they represent over a quarter of all jobs in the economy, driving 60% of total U.S. exports.

The best part is, there are Lolita’s everywhere- from Michigan to Malaysia or Pennsylvania to Peru. This year’s International IP Index from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimated that economies which espouse meaningful and robust IP rights also enjoy more access to venture capital, more foreign direct investment, more R&D expenditure, more growth in high-value jobs, the list goes on…

Trade agreements like the TPP and TTIP continue this path to prosperity by ensuring innovation — the very cornerstone of the business community — remains protected as we expand markets abroad. So before you buy into the hype, take a look behind the curtain and see how trade really puts our innovators front and center on the world’s stage.

WE Decide 2016, Powered by Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) and Personal BlackBox, is uniting women in business across the country to raise their voices and engage in the 2016 presidential election to educate the candidates, the media and voters on the issues of importance to women entrepreneurs.

This week we focusing on the minimum wage and its impact on women-owned small businesses and their workers. We have a guest blog post by Ceil McCloy and Brenda Barwick, two women business owners and WIPP members with differing viewpoints on the minimum wage.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 which among other provisions established a minimum wage. Roosevelt, when he sent the bill to Congress in 1937 stated “all our able-bodied men and women should be able to have a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. In the more than 75 years since Congress first enacted a federal minimum wage, at 25 cents an hour, lawmakers have increased it many times, reaching the current level of $7.25 an hour in 2009. And with every increase the same objections have been raised. It will increase unemployment. It will hurt small businesses and put them out of business. It will slow the economy. These doomsday predictions have never come to fruition.

Employers are recognizing that an increase in minimum wage is good for business. Workers earning low wages tend to be less committed to their jobs than better paid workers and are less likely to stay at their jobs. The accommodations and food services sector, with a majority of minimum wage workers, has an annual turnover rate of nearly 63 percent, while “limited service restaurants” (fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s) have a turnover rate of well over 100%. The retail trade, which employs cashiers, customer service representatives, stock clerks and other low-wage workers, has a turnover rate of nearly 50 percent. Employee turnover forces businesses to constantly find and train new workers, costing firms significant amounts of money and time. In the fast food industry, the cost of turnover is approximately $4,700 each time a worker leaves his or her job. Studies show that higher wages can substantially reduce turnover and the costs associated with replacing lost workers. The benefit from lower turnover explains why large companies as well as many small businesses have chosen to invest in higher wages as part of a highly competitive business strategy.

Job loss is often stated as a reason not to increase the minimum wage. This is simply not true. As Goldman Sachs analysts (2016) recently noted, citing a 2010 study by University of California economists that examined job-growth patterns across every border in the U.S. where one county had a higher wage than a neighboring county, “the economic literature has typically found no effect on employment” from recent U.S. minimum-wage increases. This report’s findings mirror decades of more sophisticated academic research, providing simple confirmation that opponents’ predictions of job losses when minimum-wage increases are not rooted in facts.

Can raising the minimum wage help the economy? Yes! Research has shown that raising the minimum wage boosts consumer spending, increasing the demand that drives economic growth. A 2011 study by the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank found that minimum wage increases raise incomes and increase consumer spending. The authors examined 23 years of household spending data and found that for every dollar increase for a minimum wage worker results in $2,800 in new consumer spending by his or her household over the following year. A 2009 study by the Economic Policy Institute estimates that President Obama’s campaign to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2011 would inject $60 billion in additional spending into the economy.

We should enact legislation to increase the federal minimum wage and peg increases to the annual inflation rate.

Econ 101: Free Markets Raise Wages, Not Government

By Brenda Barwick, APR, President of Jones PR and Oklahoma Chair of Maggie’s List.

One of the biggest misconceptions about conservatives on the issue of minimum wage is that we want the lowest wage, when in fact we want to pay our people as high as possible. One of the principles that makes America unique from almost all other countries is that our economy was founded on a free market system, or simply, supply and demand.

An economy with minimal government regulation allows for businesses to grow and prosper naturally, which results in wage growth. For examples of where market forces have dramatically increased base wages, look no further than some of America’s cities that have strategically replaced traditional low-paying industry jobs by recruiting high-tech and health-sciences companies with higher wage positions, resulting in greater prosperity and transformational change.

Federal mandates prohibit the free market from functioning properly as intended. Government interference is particularly disruptive and harmful to small business owner’s ability to make the best decisions for her employees. Business owners and managers know their business better than anyone else and are naturally incentivized to see their employees succeed. There should be a floor for common decency and respect, but it is all together different to mandate high wages that business owners cannot meet.

Now that it is summer, most of us reading this blog cannot make up for a $15 mandatory increase when we have budgeted $8 or $10 for a summer position. We all remember the joy and excitement of our first job in high school or college where we learned basic job skills. We need to ensure teens and young adults have the same opportunities we enjoyed and inspired us to strive beyond entry-level jobs so we can make a living wage for our families. By taking this opportunity away from young ambitious Americans by pricing them out of the marketplace, America’s future could be comprised of a workforce who never learned basic job skills before they arrive at their first real job.

The most prosperous path forward for all Americans of any age is to allow the free market to work properly. This system provides boundless opportunities for all Americans who desire to work and contribute to our society. Give our young people the same opportunities that benefited and prepared us for prosperous careers.

Let us know what you think! Take WE Decide 2016’s minimum wage quick poll here:

Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) invites you to a special, complimentary WE Decide 2016 event for women in business in Washington D.C. You’ve heard the buzzwords – “delegates”, “super delegates”, “brokered or contested convention”, now join us to learn more about how primaries work and get a preview of what to expect at the upcoming Democratic and Republican Conventions in July.

Join us on Tuesday, May 3rd from 3:00pm – 4:30pm in Washington, D.C. to hear from Elaine Kamarck, Founding Director of the Center for Effective Public Management and Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution.

Elaine is a public sector scholar with wide experience in government, academia and politics. She is an expert on government innovation and reform in the United States, OECD countries and developing countries. In addition, she also focuses her research on the presidential nomination system and American politics and has worked in many American presidential campaigns.

Women business owners are 10 million strong. When we engage in the political process with a positive message there is no stopping us!

WE Decide 2016 is mobilizing thousands of women in business to raise their voice and share their message this election season. It is a wonderful opportunity to learn and to share our views on issues important to us with the candidates and the media.

So please, sign up today and encourage your friends and employees to join you. To immediately get involved you can like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and sign up for WE Decide 2016 online. Below are the links to make an immediate impact –and it will only take 5 minutes of your time!

We also encourage you to spread the word in your networks, click here to view the most recent weekly partner and supporter newsletter. This newsletter provides links to logos, pictures for social media, sample social media, the topic for the weekly #WEDecideChat on Twitter, content for your website, and the most recent poll or survey. If you would like to sign your organization up as a supporter, please click here or email Lynn Bunim at lbunim@wipp.org.

Thank you again for your support – we couldn’t do all we do without you!

Will a new President change how Washington works? Join me Thursday for an insider’s look at the Presidential candidates and their ability to work with a new Congress and the business community. Not only will this year’s election decide the Presidency, but control of the Senate is also in play.

Is it just me or are the candidates ignoring economic issues that are business women’s bread and butter? The election so far has largely centered on social issues and impossible promises such as free college. What about taxes, healthcare costs, employee issues, access to capital and access to markets? And what about a positive message? Business owners are optimists – if they didn’t believe America was great, they wouldn’t take the risk of investing in a business. Someone out there thinks America is still the land of opportunity—to the tune of 10 million women business owners.

In all my years of working with Congress and Administrations, Republican or Democrat, WIPP has always taken the view that women who are business owners are influencers in their communities and a trusted source of information. Their focus is on results, sensible regulations and an investment in small businesses. Therefore, they have the obligation and privilege to make a difference in elections and policy platforms.

Hence, the launch of WE Decide 2016, a collaboration with Personal BlackBox (PBB). WIPP has provided a platform for women entrepreneurs to have their voices heard during the 2016 elections. WE Decide 2016 engages women business owners and women entrepreneurs to focus our message. The opinions shared through this initiative will culminate in a policy platform, which will be shared with the candidates at both national conventions.

WE Decide 2016 utilizes an interactive online platform to conduct polling and outreach to women business owners on the issues that affect our lives and businesses everyday. Through quick polls and issue surveys, we will be able to ascertain women business owners’ views in a timely manner and we will share the results with the media.

What makes WE Decide 2016 different from all the other avenues to share your opinion? Thanks to our partner, Personal BlackBox, WE Decide 2016 gives women control of their personal data and a safe place to express opinions privately with peers. Unlike current Presidential polls run by CNN, the DNC and RNC and even Facebook, the information you share with WE Decide 2016 will never be sold to anyone.

So, let’s get started. First step: go to WE Decide 2016 and register. We need an initial number of 1000 registrants to do credible polls. Step Two: ask all of your friends and networks to join the effort. Since we are 10 million strong and an economic force, women business owners are in a unique position to shape the conversation around issues and approaches that resonate with us.

You may find it surprising that women have cast the deciding votes in presidential elections for nearly four decades. What may not be surprising is that female voices rarely dominate the discussions leading up to Election Day. Women are not always given their fair share-of-voice to shape the issues that matter most to us, like equal pay, greater access to business capital, health care, and so on. Issues that secure our financial and family futures.

Twenty years ago, I invited millions of you to Take Our Daughters to Work Day in order to provide girls insight and inspiration about work opportunities. This annual event has become an important part of American history and has made girls more visible, more valued and importantly more heard. But we still need to do more.

This year, I am inviting you to help shape our future with WE Decide 2016, an online campaign to amplify our voices to get what women want and deserve in the 2016 election and beyond. I urge you to sign up at WEDecide2016.org to begin participating in this monumental movement towards greater equality.

When you join WE Decide 2016, you receive a Personal Polling Station that will enable you to:

• Participate throughout the election process with your peers
• Take quick polls and surveys on topics that impact your life and business
• Invite your female employees, vendors, family members and customers to participate
• Continually help shape key issues and how candidates respond to our collective demands during debates and town halls.

Tech Crunch reports: “The majority of candidates reserve the right to sell or trade personal data to unaffiliated third parties…Voter data is the new currency, and candidates are reaping the rewards.”

I believe that it is critical for people to voice their opinions and engage freely in political discussions without exposing themselves to being identified, analyzed and targeted without consent or knowledge. Unlike other polling sites or campaign web sites, the information you share with WE Decide 2016 will never be sold to anyone without permission or benefit to you.

Personal BlackBox Trust, the organization that created WE Decide 2016 in partnership with Women Impacting Public Policy, secures your opinions and data in a personal trust account. The platform allows you to track and view how you have responded to polls and surveys throughout the entire election year–empowering you with valuable data and insights on what you and other women find most important in the 2016 election. With privacy protected polling data, WE Decide 2016 will take our collective wants, needs and opinions directly to the candidates.

Candidates are asking you for money. We are asking you for your opinions.

Girls today need to see us go this next mile and step into our full economic power by participating more fully in the election process. Doing so creates greater possibilities of gaining access to money in order to build more female-owned businesses creating an even playing field in the business world and beyond. Because WE Decide 2016…Really.

Does anyone else think the 2016 Presidential election has been going for ages? It sure seems like that to me, but admittedly, it has been one of the most entertaining primaries in recent history. The 24-hour news cycle has kept us up to the minute with every speech, gaff, or barb traded by the candidates. We’ve seen our fair share of debates, roundtables and town halls while watching almost daily polls track the candidates as their support rises and falls. Luckily, today is when the rubber meets the road – at least in Iowa – where Iowans will caucus for their primary candidates. As the 2016 Presidential election ramps up, so too will WIPP’s advocacy efforts. Why? Because we are not cynical about democracy and the process necessary to achieve it. We believe engagement is the mechanism by which to change the trajectory of our country’s future.

WIPP has made addressing the needs of women entrepreneurs a top priority for elected officials and our advocacy has resulted in successes for women business owners. Just look to 2015 for proof that women business owners have a seat at the table. We worked for implementation of sole source authority for the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Procurement Program– a tremendous step forward for women-owned businesses seeking to win federal contracts. The Senate Small Business Committee passed the first reauthorization for the Women’s Business Center (WBC) program in nearly a decade, which provides important business support to women entrepreneurs. These are just two of the many policy victories for women entrepreneurs last year.

To ensure that we keep up that momentum and women entrepreneurs remain a top priority for our elected officials, WIPP has launched WE Decide 2016. This collaboration with Personal BlackBox (PBB) will engage women entrepreneurs seeking to affect the issues candidates discuss throughout the 2016 Election. Ten million woman business owners, if active, are in a position to influence the direction of economic policy positions. According to the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC), women-owned businesses are an economic force, contributing nearly $1.6 trillion to the annually to the US economy. The WE Decide 2016 platform seeks to engage all women business owners and associations whose members are women entrepreneurs, not just WIPP members. When women come together to share their views about the future of this country, they don’t need to be caucusing in Iowa or attending town halls in New Hampshire. The platform will be polling women business owners on economic issues, such as access to capital, access to federal markets, tax policy and providing healthcare to employees, to mention a few topics that affect us daily.

As the primary results come in and we move on to the New Hampshire primary next week and the South Carolina primary on February 20, know that through WE Decide 2016, we have a unique opportunity to engage the voices of ten million women business owners. We certainly don’t need to agree on every issue, but I, for one, think women business owners may not necessarily possess the same views on issues that the national polls indicate. So, lean in and let’s see the results of our engagement. I can’t wait to see the impact all of us together can have in November.

Women Impacting Public Policy and Personal BlackBox Collaborate to Launch WE Decide 2016 to Give Women in Business a New Voice in the 2016 Election

Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) is excited to announce the launch of WE Decide 2016, a new initiative in collaboration with our partner Personal BlackBox (PBB) which aims to engage women in business in the 2016 election. WE Decide 2016 provides women with an opportunity to privately share their opinions via an array of polls, issues surveys, and discussion questions on the issues that matter most to them, their families and their businesses through our unique online platform.

With female presidential contenders from both the Democrat and Republican parties, the 2016 election is shaping up to be another historic battle in pessimism vs. optimism. According to a national online survey of women in business, three-fourths (75%) of the respondents are dissatisfied with the job that Congress is doing to address issues that are impacting women and women business owners, yet 63 percent are hopeful for the future of our country. However, nearly half (48%) of respondents feel that if a male president is elected, they will not receive the same access to economic opportunities and climate for success as they would if a female president were elected.

WE Decide 2016, in partnership with leading business organizations, aims to educate the candidates, the media and voters on the concerns of women entrepreneurs. Our goal to galvanize more than 100,000 women to take part in the WE Decide 2016 platform to voice their needs, opinions and ideas. We need your help to reach this goal!

Women in business, like you, can visit the WE Decide 2016 website – www.WEDecide2016.org – to unlock your personal polling station and confidentially take quick polls on hot topics from the campaign trail, respond to in depth issue surveys, and participate in our “Tell Us!” section to express your unique perspective on the challenges you face. Participants control their personal data and unlike other polling and survey sites, the information you share with WE Decide 2016 will never be sold to anyone. With the anonymous polling data, WE Decide 2016 will take collective wants, needs and opinions directly to the candidates to influence future policies.

WE Decide 2016 participants can also learn about breaking election news, where the candidates stand on economic issues and get advice on how women can get involved in the political process and become an advocate for the issues impacting their businesses. The WE Decide 2016 Profiles highlight the personal story behind the issues, allowing visitors to hear directly from women in business.

Don’t forget to join us on social media! You can share the results of WE Decide 2016 surveys with candidates and spread the word to your network by utilizing the hashtag #WEDecide2016. Also, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Leveraging insight, secure poll data and user comments, WE Decide 2016 will publish a Women in Business Policy Priorities report prior to the national conventions to encourage political parties and their candidates to prioritize and discuss issues of significance to women entrepreneurs. Make sure your voice is included by participating in WE Decide 2016 today and signing up to receive alerts on new polls and engagement opportunities.

Together. WE Decide 2016. To learn more and engage in WE Decide 2016, visit wedecide2016.org.